Smooth shortcut

8/28/2015 – Tactics can seem deceptively simple, particularly when seeing an engine analysing grandmaster games. Strange, however, how difficult it is to find the right move and to calculate variations properly when playing yourself. It is easier if you solve tactical puzzles regularly. In the ChessBase Magazine and his tactics column Oliver Reeh helps you to do so.

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Smooth shortcut

Hunting down the enemy king is always the fastest way to victory. White to play - and after Black's answer 35...Ra4 to checkmate by force!
Can you imagine the course of the game?

Oliver Reeh in ChessBase Magazine

Do you like these lessons? There are plenty more by tactic expert Oliver Reeh in ChessBase Magazine, where you will also find openings articles and surveys, endgames, and of course annotations by the world's top grandmasters.

See also

2/17/2017 – The monthly British magazine CHESS has been going strong for over eighty years. It is currently published by the Chess & Bridge Ltd., London, and brings its readership all the news from the UK – but also from the rest of the world. It also has interesting sections, like three pages of tactical puzzles taken from games of various recent events. Here's a selection of these puzzles, presented on our interactive JavaScript board – an orgy of tactics.

See also

2/3/2017 – Tactics can seem deceptively simple, particularly when seeing an engine analysing grandmaster games. Strange, however, how difficult it is to find the right move and to calculate variations properly when playing yourself. It is easier if you solve tactical puzzles regularly. In the ChessBase Magazine and his tactics column Oliver Reeh helps you to do so.

Video

The introductory position of the Kasparov Gambit can occur after 1 d4,1 Nf3 and 1 c4, which can appeal to a wide range of players. The usual move order is 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 Nf3 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e5!? 5 Nb5 d5 6 cxd5 Bc5 bringing us to a very sharp position. On this 60 mins, FIDE Senior Trainer Andrew Martin argues the case from the Black side, showing both classic Kasparov masterpieces and games from the present day and suggests that White's defensive task is not easy. This is a practical gambit which will help players at all levels to win more games. It is ideal for must-win situations with Black. It is a gambit that White cannot decline,as if he does, Black gets a good position instantly. White must take up the cudgels and fight!

Discuss

Anonimous:
Try re-reading the intro:
'White to play - and after Black's answer 35...Ra4 to checkmate by force!'
In other words, find white's 35th move already knowing that black will play Ra4 in response.

anonimous 8/29/2015 01:01

The position on the big board is wrong: it shows the White Queen on b4, rather than c4, and then obviously the winning combination doesn't work. Too bad, since it's a pretty finish